Silverstone: Part Two: A Mage Revealed Page 8

  As the evening began, Ben found himself at the top table at the rear of the hall, beside Evander. Music played, and a crowd of hundreds assembled to witness his unveiling. Ben sat in his dark cloak, staring at his food from behind glazed eyes. He felt nothing of the apprehension he would have usually endured at the brink of such attention.

  Finally the time came.

  Evander stood, and the crowd silenced in a heartbeat.

  "My friends. Welcome!"

  There was a cheer from around the room, but Ben didn't need to look at the faces of the guests to imagine the looks in their eyes.

  Evander raised his hand to silence the cheer, and went on. "We are all of us citizens of our beloved city of Botilcester. And we live inside its warm embrace, peaceful and prosperous, wishing no harm to others of this world." He paused in contemplation. "I, through my powers, have seen to your safety, survival, and happiness all of this time." Again he paused.

  Ben glanced up at the man he had learned from. The mage who had taught him power beyond imagining. On whom he had been modelled. And was becoming.

  He looked around the room at the hundreds gathered to worship the magician, in awe of him. There were men, women, some children. All stared transfixed. Too frightened to blink.

  And then his eyes found her.

  Eva.

  There she was, on a table at the other side of the great hall, dressed in new clothes she must have been given by Melanise's palace servants.

  Unlike the citizens all around her, she did not look forward in nervous adulation.

  She looked straight at Ben.

  His eyes travelled to hers across the gulf of the hall, and it seemed as if she was even further away than the long length of the room. And yet in spite of that distance he could still sense in her eyes everything she was thinking. Fear. But not for herself or the others gathered there. Fear for him.

  "And so, my friends," Ben heard Evander again, "the time has come for me to reveal to the realm our true strength, and to at last put an end to the threat posed by the other mages. We will win the coming war, and in so doing preserve the safety and security of our city forever."

  He stopped, and looked from corner to corner of the room.

  "I have made another. A second mage, to watch over you, and our great city." He pointed his hand to Ben, and beckoned him to stand.

  Ben rose obediently to his feet, and the crowd drew breath.

  "Yes, friends. Now Botilcester is preserved and protected by not only my great strength, but also the powers of my young apprentice, Silverstone!" He raised his hands to the ceiling.

  The crowd understood and began cheering wildly.

  He placed a hand on Ben's shoulder, keeping the other raised high. "Behold! The two mages of Botilcester!"

  The movement behind Ben was so fast he barely registered it.

  A towering guardsman fell to the ground.

  A red cloaked figure.

  A crashing sound.

  Evander's goblet spilling.

  Another red figure, and another. All around the hall, revealing themselves.

  A blade flying through the air from the side of the hall.

  A red cape sheltered behind a tapestry letting loose an arrow from a bow.

  Behind him, a figure leaping at Evander, knife drawn.

  He barely had time to think.

  "Kan.... Za...Fal!" Ben shouted, hurling a hand from beneath his cape at the assailant flying through the air to Evander.

  The attacker was diverted from their course of attack, and hurled across the width of the hall, accelerating fast as they went, until they collided with the wall hangings and chandelier, and stone wall beyond, and slumped down to the floor. The figure coughed blood, and remained still.

  Ben turned back.

  Evander had caught the knife in mid air. But the arrow had struck him in the right upper chest just below his shoulder. He grimaced in pain.

  A second wave. More red capes emerged, bows poised. They did not pause, and fired in perfect unison. These were highly skilled assassins who had long practised for this opportunity.

  But they were no match for the mage.

  Evander muttered, and raised a hand.

  The arrows slowed down, stopped in mid air, and fell directly in front of the top table.

  He spoke again and the assailants were lifted from their feet.

  Ben looked around the hall - he counted twelve of them including the one he had neutralised himself, and some he hadn't seen coming.

  The red capes clutched at their throats and chests and writhed in pain. They began moving through the air towards Evander, dragged slowly to their end.

  The crowd was deathly quiet, held still as they witnessed the scene. The sounds of the struggling, anguished assassins were loud in the grand hall.

  As they drew close, the hood from one of their capes fell. It was a child, a girl. No older than Ben. Perhaps younger.

  They were dropped into a heap on the floor in the centre of the hall, and then Evander tightened the group into a ball of red cloth and bodies.

  The crowd moved away, pushing aside tables and chairs to escape the violence.

  Evander clutched his shoulder with a hand. He whispered something and the arrow pulled out, and his wound was mended. As if nothing had happened. He drew a deep breath.

  "Well, well, well." He paused. "Thank you, for helping me demonstrate the combined powers of our magic so thrillingly!" He laughed greedily. "I'm sure the audience is most impressed by these theatrics you have helped us put on.

  "Well your fate will not be easy I'm afraid. I will discover your master, and know his plans. And then we will make examples of you."

  He waved to the guardsmen. "Guards. Take them to the dungeons, and... warm them up. I want to deal with them personally, but not until I have enjoyed the rest of my party!"

  With that he glared down at the ball of prisoners, eyes bulging. He held out an open hand and slowly tightened his fingers, his mouth forming a further spell.

  The ball of prisoners compressed. There were sounds of cracking bones and cries of pain. The crowd began to step further away. Then finally Evander released, and the group spilled apart like blood, to be leapt upon by the guards.

  The assassins were pulled away from the hall, and the door slammed behind them. The room was frozen.

  "Now! Please, don't let that little interruption interfere with our enjoyment of the evening!" He laughed. He patted Ben on the shoulder, and sat back down to his meal as if nothing had happened.

  The crowd complied, anxiously continuing their facade.

  Ben remained standing.

  He watched the doors through which the prisoners had just been swept away.

  Then his eyes found their way back to Eva.

  And again her eyes fixed with his.

  She was crying.

  END OF PART ONE

  From the author

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for continuing to follow Ben Silverstone in this second part of the Silverstone story!

  As with the first part (Through Dark Waters) I really hope you enjoyed the read. Ben’s journey is beginning to get serious, but with a little help from his friends Eva and Goldie, hopefully he can stay on the right path!

  Thanks to everyone who has been in contact with me directly already, sharing their thoughts, insights and ideas for the rest of the Silverstone adventure! And a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a short piece of feedback anywhere around the web – this really helps get more people to see and hopefully enjoy Ben’s story!

  So again, I ask for your help:

  Firstly, please send me your feedback!

  My hope is that this story will be one that resonates in different ways and at different levels with readers, and I want to hear from you. I’m publishing the story in stages in part so that I can take into account your thoughts to shape the rest of Ben’s journey (see the Q&A below for more details). So please, help me help you get the
most out of it!

  You can do this by emailing me directly at j.j.moody@hotmail.com

  Secondly, please leave a review!

  The Silverstone story is still in its infancy, and for it to gain an audience it needs reviews. Typically only 1% of readers leave feedback, and in many cases those with negative reactions are actually far more likely to review than those with positive feelings, which can distort the overall rating level. The volume of reviews is also critical in persuading readers to try a book, so your voice is extremely powerful!

  So if you have a few minutes to leave a short, always honest review, I would appreciate it greatly!

  Thank you once again for reading!

  More information about the story including artwork and clues about the next parts will be available on the website soon. www.silverstonestory.com

  Sincerely,

  James

  Q&A

  Q: Why are you publishing the Silverstone story in several parts, rather than in one go as a traditional novel?

  A: The whole story will cover three whole novels, so was always going to be broken up in the same way as many fantasy stories are split traditionally, but we have gone a step further and broken the individual novels into separate parts, each published separately.

  There are a few reasons for this but the basic one is that I wanted to try to build a connection with the readers. Firstly I wanted to try to build interest in the story with readers gradually, and in a way encourage them to reflect on individual parts, and what might happen next, before being given the ‘official’ version, and so help to fire their imaginations. Ben’s imagination is really a major ingredient in the story, and so I liked the way this method of publishing helped relate that back to the readers. If readers join the story after several parts have already been released they can catch up quickly of course, but at least for some it will hopefully help fuel their own interpretations.

  Secondly I also really wanted to be able to listen to feedback from readers as the story was written, rather than after it was finished, and have the opportunity to actually take this into account. This stems from some of the major themes in the story and the desire to connect them back to the readers in a deeper, more meaningful way, which I felt this way of publishing allowed more than the traditional route.

  There will be concerns from some readers that the parts may not come frequently enough and that may hinder their enjoyment and I understand that, so we will try to stick to a regular publishing timetable to help maintain the momentum and try to deal with that issue as best we can.

  Q: What is the timetable to publish the next part of the Silverstone story?

  A: The intention is to publish a part at least every three months. We know it is important to keep this regular to maintain the progress of the story, because while we want to build suspense, we don’t want to cut off enjoyment by taking too long between each part. The date for publication will be announced right at the end of the previous part of the story, and we will stick to it as best we can!

  Once the first complete novel (SILVERSTONE) is published, the second novel in the series will begin after a short break. The idea at the moment is for each individual book to comprise three or four parts and to bring Ben’s full story to a conclusion over three full books.

  Silverstone Part Three: The Red King will be available from

  27 September 2016!

  For more information about the Silverstone series, visit www.silverstonestory.com very soon.

  Silverstone Part One: Through Dark Waters is available on Amazon now! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I0RQ9V8#nav-subnav